Argosy backs off Empress boat

Higher gaming taxes expected to go into effect next month will make a roughly $70 million project planned for the Empress Casino Joliet economically unfeasible, officials from Alton-based Argosy Gaming Co. told state gaming regulators Tuesday.

At the Illinois Gaming Board's monthly meeting Tuesday, Argosy representatives said the tax increase has forced the company to reevaluate a plan, which called for replacing the casino's two riverboats with much larger barges.

"Under the new tax rate, the project we have proposed would not be economically viable," a company spokesman said after the meeting.

A new tax rate approved by the Illinois Legislature earlier this month, calls for increasing casino taxes from 35 percent to 50 percent of gross revenues for the state's most lucrative casinos. The new rate, which still must be signed by the governor, is expected to go into effect July 1.

In a conference call with investors last week, Argosy Chief Executive Officer James P. Perry said the company is evaluating ways to minimize the effect of the tax hike through cost-saving measures and would be reviewing its expansion project for Joliet.